Having worked around financial crimes for a number of years, I noticed they seemed to be on the rise.
One reason for this is technology, which grows more rapidly than laws designed to protect us from it.
Although the blog is a resource to educate people on identity theft, it also strives to educate the common person on the rapidly growing problem of crimes enabled (made too easy) by technology and the Internet.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Sometimes fraud is hidden right behind a "neon sign." NBC 4 News did a story about how this is happening at Jiffy Lube when people go in for an oil change:

"That's what NBC 4 found last May, when an undercover producer, took test cars to nine LA area Jiffy Lubes. One location charged the NBC4 undercover producer for a new fuel filter, but after the visit NBC4 found the old filter was still in the car."

"Four more Jiffy Lubes charged NBC4 for transmission flushes, supposedly using a high tech machine. But the machines just sat there, and the flushes were never done."

NBC4 also got this quote from a Jiffy Lube Manager:

"This stuff happens all over," a current Jiffy Lube manager in the Chicago area tells NBC4. He asked NBC4 to protect his identity. He says some Jiffy Lubes in Chicago routinely charge for work that's not done. "The customer is never going to know," he tells NBC4, He also claims employees sometimes even damage customers cars "Blowing up engines, transmissions, stripping bolts."